One of the reasons why my profile is not open to public, I don't use my real name, I don't have any family or school or employer info there and I have blocked the possibility for others to publish on FB where I am (I have disabled the automatic tracking of my face on pictures as well).

Besides, am I the only one who thinks it is rude when I am having lunch with a friend......Friend pulls out phone and texts in Karen is at Coffee Depot with Jane Doe. Are we not having lunch together? We should be having a conversation. I am just old fashioned with manners I guess.

And does anyone really care where I am lunching and with whom? Stupid.

"Update: In response to this story, Foursquare has killed Girls Around Me’s API access to their data, effectively knocking the app out of commission. For more details and a statement from Foursquare, read here."

Still wise to keep on top of privacy issues.

edit to add: You'll probably see a tutorial on Facebook Safety in the advertising column on your home page now like mine. Nothing is private.

"Update: In response to this story, Foursquare has killed Girls Around Me’s API access to their data, effectively knocking the app out of commission. For more details and a statement from Foursquare, read here."

Still wise to keep on top of privacy issues.

edit to add: You'll probably see a tutorial on Facebook Safety in the advertising column on your home page now like mine. Nothing is private.

Besides, am I the only one who thinks it is rude when I am having lunch with a friend......Friend pulls out phone and texts in Karen is at Coffee Depot with Jane Doe. Are we not having lunch together? We should be having a conversation. I am just old fashioned with manners I guess.

And does anyone really care where I am lunching and with whom? Stupid.

Yes it is rude. Softy has brought that up to me. So now I don't take out my droid while eating unless I absolutely have to.

Besides, am I the only one who thinks it is rude when I am having lunch with a friend......Friend pulls out phone and texts in Karen is at Coffee Depot with Jane Doe. Are we not having lunch together? We should be having a conversation. I am just old fashioned with manners I guess.

When I am invited at a certain friend's house there is a couple that is playing with their phones all the time. You could think they were communicating with each other instead of the people who are surrounding them. We are making fun of them for that.

And Erika, I had seen that the app does not exist any more. Still... less info you have in your profile less problems you have with Facebook's privacy policy (which is that there is no privacy...). I am always surprised how many people have their profiles open to public (even my colleagues from IT) or who enters address, phone no. etc. I don't do that (and don't friend colleagues either - this is another one of my principles).

I guess I never worry too much about privacy issues. Who would be interested enoughin my little life for it to be an issue? Worrying about that seems more than a little paranoid to me. But perhaps I am too trusting, or too naive.

If I were a young single woman I think it would be a bigger concern, but really, what is there to worry about....people have better things to do that stalk or creep on little ol' me....

I have friended co-workers, it's too awkward to refuse when they send friend requests. But there is a simple, easy fix for that- simply make them into a list and then when you post anything, you simply hide it from that list/people. Easy peasy.

I guess I never worry too much about privacy issues. Who would be interested enoughin my little life for it to be an issue? Worrying about that seems more than a little paranoid to me. But perhaps I am too trusting, or too naive.

If I were a young single woman I think it would be a bigger concern, but really, what is there to worry about....people have better things to do that stalk or creep on little ol' me....

I have friended co-workers, it's too awkward to refuse when they send friend requests. But there is a simple, easy fix for that- simply make them into a list and then when you post anything, you simply hide it from that list/people. Easy peasy.

I agree. Not too worried about stalkers this late in the game. At my age, I'd probably consider it a compliment! I do have a few people who are "subscribed" to me, and I don't know who they are. But they only get to see what I mark as "public".

Yep, listing is the way to go. I list everybody, and filter my statuses accordingly.

I only friend people I know...although, not necessarily ones I have met! Many are from this board.

I have an old high-school friend who has thousands of friends, most of them she doesn't know. Some seem pretty weird, too, from what they post on her stuff. But to each their own!

Recently, a friend of mine posted a fairly innocuous pro-gay-marriage statement on his Facebook wall, causing some batshit country aunt of his to comment (I'm paraphrasing), "But God and the Bible and AIDS! AIDS!!! THE BABY JESUS! AAAAAAAIDS!!!" This kicked off a quick but bloody argument, involving my friend, his gay friends, his straight friends, his batshit country aunt, the memory of his closeted (and tormented) gay uncle, AIDS, racism, and the baby Jesus's tender baby-feelings.

bwahahahahaha!!!

That's a good article!

I have not been put in that position by relatives, just by friends.....I am sure some of my posts/shares/status updates horrify some of my more staid relatives, but they are far too polite or meek to say anything to me about it on Facebook.

I have found it to be a funny, surprising, but also sometimes saddening and disheartening way to learn more about some of my relatives and acquaintances, for sure. I had no idea until facebook that some of them were as political/redneck/hippie-ish as they are.

I have not been put in that position by relatives, just by friends.....I am sure some of my posts/shares/status updates horrify some of my more staid relatives, but they are far too polite or meek to say anything to me about it on Facebook.

I have found it to be a funny, surprising, but also sometimes saddening and disheartening way to learn more about some of my relatives and acquaintances, for sure. I had no idea until facebook that some of them were as political/redneck/hippie-ish as they are.

I never quite know what to expect on my facebook page. Like you I've found it quite surprising to see the reaction to some of the content which I comment about or post.

No matter, Facebook is still a brilliant thing, which is why I want to revive this thread. Sitting in my new cafe this morning, a bunch of old friends came by for breakfast and to wish me luck. Some of us hadn't see others for some time, but we all knew what was going on in each others lives due to Facebook. Locally in Playa it really works well and I definitely pick up on new restaurants and "happenings" from my fellow Playense.

So since we have all been FBers for sometime now, what is it that you enjoy the most? Is it the photos? Perhaps the ease of keeping in touch with distant friends or something else? I remember when I used to log on everyday to play a race car and a pirate ship game which limited me to a certain number of games/ time!

I agree. Not too worried about stalkers this late in the game. At my age, I'd probably consider it a compliment! I do have a few people who are "subscribed" to me, and I don't know who they are. But they only get to see what I mark as "public".

Yep, listing is the way to go. I list everybody, and filter my statuses accordingly.

I only friend people I know...although, not necessarily ones I have met! Many are from this board.

I have an old high-school friend who has thousands of friends, most of them she doesn't know. Some seem pretty weird, too, from what they post on her stuff. But to each their own!

I agree too. No restrictions. And I'm not afraid of stalkers.
I use lists both to restrict what people see and to dirict what i am writing.